No pizza for you

A Danish pizzeria owner who refused service to French and German tourists because their governments didn't back the US-led war in Iraq was convicted of discrimination today.

Aage Bjerre, who owns a pizzeria on western Denmark's Fanoe island, was investigated by police after he wouldn't serve Germans and French. He called them "anti-American".

In February, Bjerre displayed two home-made pictograms with bars through images of people coloured in the hues of the French and German flags. He also reprinted his menus to eliminate German translations.

A Danish court fined Bjerre 5,000 kroner ($1,200) or said he could spend a week in jail.

"I will not pay. I'll do the time," Bjerre told The Associated Press. "I feel that I was convicted for supporting the coalition."");document.write("

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However, he said he would appeal the decision, despite offers from supporters to pay the fine.

"Every day I turn tourists down, but my conscience is doing fine," he said, adding he has received more than 200 letters from around the world offering support, including letters from "nearly every single state in the United States".

"That means a lot more to me than losing money," he said, adding he's lost nearly 50,000 kroner ($12,000) because of a drop in business and repairing vandalism to the shop's front.

The island, 320 kilometres south-west of the capital, Copenhagen, is a popular spot for visitors from neighbouring Germany. Of the approximately 100,000 tourists who come, some 60 per cent are German. The others are mostly Scandinavians and Dutch.

There are few French visitors to the island, which has a year-round population of 3,300.